I sit alone in my room on the seventh floor, writing what will surely be my last will and testament. The heroin which allowed me to forget and to sleep for the last couple of years has lost its power to keep the screaming terrors away. The drug destroyed my body and mind, gradually eating away at them like a corrosive acid. Now I have become a slave to it. And yet, without it, I do not sleep for weeks, but instead continuously see the scenes from that terrible night running through my head on repeat as worsening waves of madness crash on the shores of my consciousness.
In the caverns under the town of Frost Hollow, I found the meaning of true madness. Ever since I escaped that den of horrors, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is only the feverish delirium of an unhinged mind.
Even now, they wait behind the door to this cheap, bare rented room. They drag their claws over the wood. I hear them hissing in that strange, ancient tongue, the one I first heard in the tombs of rock that had been undisturbed for countless millennia.
***
I had first heard rumors of an unexplored cavern from my friend, an experienced caver named Sonia who had explored caverns all over the world. I had been looking for some excitement in my life, some break from the constant monotony and boredom of simply working and sleeping. I had gone caving quite a few times over the year leading up to the trip, but I was not nearly as experienced and had never explored a supposedly virgin passageway of cavern before.
“How do you know no one’s gone down there?” I asked, curious. We sat across from each other at a local diner, getting some early breakfast before our planned descent. The sunrise was still another half-hour away, the sky flat and dark. We would be joined by Sonia’s husband, Phil, who would meet us there shortly after sunrise. I repressed an urge to yawn, chugging half of the steaming hot coffee in one long swallow. Sonia leaned close to me, her nearly colorless blue eyes reminding me of chunks of ice floating down a muddy stream.
“Phil’s friend just found it randomly,” she whispered before glancing around conspiratorially, as if she feared someone would care enough to eavesdrop on a conversation about a cave. “Well, it’s in the middle of a farm, and Phil’s friend, Jack Graysole, owns the entire property and surrounding woods. Jack says he noticed the cows kept going over to a certain spot in the field when it got really hot during the summertime. They would all gather around this little indentation in the grass. After seeing it a few times, Jack got curious and went to investigate what the cows were doing.
“He found a small hole in the ground, almost entirely covered by weeds and grass. He said he felt a cool breeze constantly blowing out of the hole, a breeze that smelled like burning matches and charred metal. After bringing out some shovels and digging down a couple feet, Jack realized that the hole wasn’t a hole at all, but the beginning of a steep passageway leading deep into the bowels of the earth.”
***
The owner of the land decided to unofficially call the newly-discovered cavern Graysole Caverns. Out of respect for him, this is also the name we all used. This is the story of how I found myself in the bowels of a strange subterranean tunnel, a tunnel where creatures beyond my comprehension slunk and hunted, skittering monstrosities who would be more at home in a nightmare.
After grabbing a couple coffees to take with us, Sonia drove over to Graysole Farms. Cows stood out in the grassy fields, huddled in tight circles as they repetitively chewed. The thin silhouette of Jack Graysole waited for us next to the herd. He had a face like a raisin, I thought to myself. I watched his thin, shaking body standing in the middle of an overgrown grassy field. Jack stared down blankly at something only he could see. Sonia and I started unloading some equipment from the car while we waited for Phil.
Once we had the backpacks loaded with some simple supplies, such as water, food, headlamps, rope, a couple extra batteries, some buck knives, and radios, we headed over to accompany Jack. We weren’t taking much, as we didn’t really expect to be down there for more than six or seven hours at the most.
Jack Graysole’s withered old face was as slack and expressionless as that of a corpse. He stared down at the ground as if he were in a trance, waving back and forth slowly on his feet like a plant in a light breeze.
“Jack?” Sonia called out as we approached. I could hear the man’s teeth chattering as we got nearer.
“Hey, what are you doing over here this early? You interested in accompanying us down there?” Sonia joked. But Jack might as well have been totally deaf for all the reaction he gave. Sonia glanced over at me with an anxious expression. I wondered if the old man was having a stroke.
I quickly walked over to where he stood, staring down at a black circular hole about three feet across directly in front of his feet. The entrance to Graysole Caverns stared up at us like a sightless pupil. As I drew within a few feet of Jack and looked straight into his blank eyes, I noticed something alarming.
His pupils were quickly dilating and constricting before my eyes. They would shrink to tiny pinpoints, then, a couple seconds later, rapidly expand until they became dark and serious. I could see his thready, rapid heartbeat pulsating in a vein on the side of his temple. Alarmed, I reached forward and put my hand on his shoulder.
Instantly, he came to life, like a man waking up from a nightmare. Shrieking, he looked at me with fully dilated pupils, reminding me of a panicked deer surrounded by wolves. His quavering old man’s voice shook with ineffable existential horror and mortal fear.
He took a step back away from us, seeming to realize where he was and what he was doing. He looked around, confused, then straight at me and Sonia. His eyes focused with anger and fear, as if we were demons here to drag him down to Hell. His eyes flicked back and forth between us constantly. Jack raised a trembling hand and pointed it straight at my heart.
“It’s you,” he said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. His teeth chattered despite the warm spring air. His skin looked deathly pale. “You’re the one who will bring an end to humanity, who will release the ruler of nightmares upon us.” He continued to point accusingly for a long moment at me, his face turning chalk-white. Then his eyes rolled up in his head. Slowly, he stumbled and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the field.
“Jack!” Sonia cried, running over to the old man. Jack’s breaths had started to come in slow, drawn-out gurgles, like a man with a slit throat trying to breathe. Frothy blood bubbled from his lips as they turned blue. Staring up at the endless expanse of cloudless sky, he exhaled one last shuddering breath and died.
***
Phil showed up only a couple minutes later. He found me and Sonia in a state of utter panic, both of us bent double over the still body of Jack. Sonia was on the phone with 911, and I was trying to give Jack chest compressions. The way his fingernails and lips shone with that cyanotic blue cast made me feel sick and weak. I knew it was futile, that I was simply playing with a corpse at this point, but I didn’t know what else to do. I felt if I didn’t do something, I might explode.
I heard the faint wailing of sirens approaching as Sonia’s panicked voice continued babbling to the 911 operator. Phil stood by her side, his tall, dark features searching and lost.
“Oh God, I think he’s dead!” Sonia cried over and over to the operator, as if she thought the operator could do anything about it. I didn’t hear what the operator said in response. As the ambulance pulled in, I gave up on chest compressions. I stood up and took a step back, looking sadly down on the kindly old man’s dead body.
The paramedics ran over. Phil, Sonia and I stood back while they worked on the corpse, trying to shock the heart back into life. But Jack’s open eyes stayed glazed as they stared sightlessly up into eternity.
***
The paramedics left. A couple police officers stayed behind to ask us a few routine questions. Eventually, after an hour or so, they left, too.
“What a fucked-up day,” Phil said, shaking his head grimly. “Do you guys still want to do this? Maybe it’s an omen from God telling us to go home.” Sonia and I exchanged a glance, then we both nodded at the same time.
“Definitely,” she said. “It’s sad what happened to Jack, but realistically, we don’t know what’s going to happen to this property now that he’s passed away. It might get sold or taken by the bank for all we know. This could be our one and only chance to explore this cave.”
“I don’t believe in omens. I’m still down,” I said, feeling slightly sick from the experience. I still remembered how Jack’s body had cracked under the weight of my chest compressions, how his ribs had snapped like bones shattering in greedy hands. “We’ll do it in memory of Jack. I plan to put this up on YouTube.” I pulled my GoPro out of my bag, turning it on. Phil groaned at that.
“Do we have any idea how far down this cave goes?” Phil asked. I felt a sense of relief now that the topic had changed from the death of the old man.
“I sent a little camera down on a rope, but it only went about a hundred feet,” Sonia responded. “It’s pretty steep at first, then it levels out. I couldn’t really see much after it leveled out, but it looks like it should be easy to climb down. There’s plenty of handholds, lots of jutting rocks.”
Phil put on his headlamp and small pack. As he crawled down into the hole, his tanned face looked up at us and gave us one last devilish grin. Once he had gone down a few dozen feet, Sonia started descending. She looked excited and happy. I noticed how she couldn’t stop smiling as she disappeared from view.
I watched their lights grow smaller and dimmer in the circular tunnel. I marveled at how perfectly circular the entrance was. It almost didn’t even look natural.
Taking a deep breath in, I followed my friends down into the dark.
***
“This isn’t too bad,” I said as I climbed down. The jutting rocks gave plenty of handholds and footholds for us. It wasn’t so tight that it felt like a coffin, either.
“It only gets easier from here!” Sonia called up.
“How do you know?” I asked. “You said you’ve never been here before.” She laughed.
“I know. Probably just wishful thinking,” she said. Far below us, Jack’s voice drifted up, faint and weak. He had already reached the bottom.
“The tunnel really opens up down here, guys,” he called. “It’s somewhat… bizarre, though.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sonia asked. I looked down, seeing Sonia and I would reach the bottom in seconds. “Forget it, I’ll let it be a surprise.” I heard her drop down. Slowly and carefully, I lowered myself down the last few feet. There was a short fall onto a smooth granite floor. I looked up, seeing what Phil and Sonia were so mesmerized by.
“Oh, wow,” I said, speechless. I blinked rapidly, wondering if the image would clear like a mirage. The tunnel was cut into a perfectly triangular shape, each side about seven feet long. The ceiling met in a point above our heads.
All along the smooth walls of gray rock, I saw thousands of black orbs peeking out. They looked similar to obsidian, but they were perfectly smooth and circular, each about the size of an orange. They were formed into interlocking diagonal patterns and followed the tunnel straight down as far as the eye could see.
“What is this place?” Sonia asked, taking a tentative step forward. I looked up, seeing the distant pinpoint of sunlight far above our heads. Our voices continued to echo off down the massive tunnels, disappearing in eerie waves into the thick curtain of shadows.
“Are you recording all this?” Phil asked me. I laughed, giddy.
“Of course! This is internet gold right here,” I said. “No one’s going to believe that this isn’t man-made, however. I can’t even believe it. Do you think Jack was playing a joke on us or something?”
“Jack had the sense of humor of a wet paper towel,” Phil whispered, shaking his head. “No, he wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Well, let’s go check it out,” Sonia said, taking a step forward. Her headlamp bobbed up and down rapidly, throwing dancing shadows through the triangular tunnel. It continued straight ahead, without the slightest deviation or curve, disappearing off into a dark point in the distance.
***
We walked as fast as we could, excited to see where, if anywhere, the strange tunnel led. Phil, always the conspiracy theorist, babbled excitedly.
“This has to be aliens, man,” he said, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I bet that scientists will find out this shit is millions of years old when we get back up and tell everyone. Maybe aliens came to earth in ancient times and made a bunch of stuff underground.” Gradually, as we walked, I noticed the tunnel opening up. The pointed triangular ceiling rose up higher above our heads and the walls moved outwards, as we were walking up a triangular funnel. At first, it was so subtle that I didn’t believe it when Sonia pointed it out.
“No, look,” she said, raising her hand above her head. “When we first started down this weird tunnel, my fingers were only maybe a foot away from the top. Now it’s a couple feet.” I was about to respond when our headlamps illuminated something standing in the middle of the tunnel.
“What the fuck is that?” I whispered, stopping cold in my tracks. Phil and Sonia looked up at the abomination at the same time. Its back was to us. It stood nearly as tall as the tunnel, which was now about twenty feet high.
The bottom half looked black and spidery with dozens of long, jointed legs. A bloody, white spine rose out of the mass of legs. Inhumanly long, skeletal arms stretched out in front of it. Its face was pointed away from us, but the back of its head resembled an enormous pointed skull with deep fissures like the cracks of an earthquake running through the bone. The abomination stayed as still as a statue, and for a long moment, I wondered if we were looking at some macabre work of art.
Then, suddenly, one of its insectile legs twitched. A moment later, the other legs started jerking and twisting. There was a sound like bones shattering as it rose up to its full height, turning around to face us.
Its face was like something from a nightmare, melting and reforming constantly like dripping candle wax. I would see a black eye appear on its forehead, then a grinning mouth on its chin, then the features would get sucked back into the folds of melting flesh. After a few moments, two enormous eyes appeared on its face, dark and cold like craters on the surface of the Moon. The mouths and noses disappeared back into the dripping skin, and only the two lidless eyes remained, emanating a cold, reptilian consciousness beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend. I felt terror radiating from its body like freezing waves.
“Free me,” it cried in a gurgling voice that seethed with insanity. It had a shrieking, metallic ringing behind every word that gave it an alien quality. “Free me, and I will give you the waters of eternal life. Within me, I contain the seeds of immortality. Within the nightmares, we live forever, always together, never alone.”
“Who are you?” I asked, terrified. The black reptilian skin of the enormous beast glistened as it knelt down, its massive face drawing near to mine. A sideways mouth burst out of the liquified flesh, showing hundreds of fangs growing like tumors from its white, bloodless gums. The fangs varied in size from only a couple inches to long, sword-like projections that stabbed into the creature’s flesh, causing white blood glittering with rainbows to fall like raindrops all around me.
“I have many names,” it hissed, its thousand voices rising and falling in crashing waves of sound. “I was present at the beginning, when this planet was no more than dead cliffs and endless freezing oceans. Those holy ones who search for us, the ancient ones, call me Niralahoth.”
“How do we free you?” Phil asked, looking terrified. He held Sonia’s hand tightly.
“By letting me into your mind and body,” Niralahoth cried, shaking the cavern. “I was thrown down here, cursed and forgotten. I cannot leave this place of shadows within this body. But in the body of another, my consciousness can be free, and the seeds of new life can spread beyond this prison.”
“There’s no way anyone’s going to do that,” I said, my eyes widening as Niralahoth’s reptilian skull turned towards me in fury. “I mean, you’re asking one of us to give up our individuality, our lives, right?”
“I am asking you to become one with me and gain power undreamt of by mortals,” it cried. “I have within me the fountain of life, the waters that send death away screaming.” I glanced anxiously at Phil and Sonia, wondering if we would have to run.
“The answer is no,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we can’t do that,” Phil said, backing me up. “But, anyways, I think our trip has ended. It’s time to turn around…”
“You will never return,” Niralahoth cried, skittering away from us. “If you will not accept salvation, then you must accept death.” Within seconds, it slunk away from us, backpedaling on its many skittering legs into the shadows.
***
All around us, a rumbling started.
There was a pounding that crashed through the rock tunnel, as if an insane blacksmith were hammering on a massive anvil. The ringing of crashing rock started off slowly, with a few stones smashing down around us with heavy blasts of sound. Within seconds, the cacophony sped up, rising into a constant stream of destruction. The black orbs were spinning in place all up and down the tunnel, their glossy obsidian surfaces flashing with sparks of blue light.
“It’s collapsing!” Phil cried, running back in the direction we came, holding Sonia’s hand as she tried to keep up with him. I could only stare for a long moment, not sure what to do. It seemed that the direction Phil was heading stood closer to total collapse.
“Wait!” I cried, but my voice was drowned out in the destruction all around us. I felt a rock smash into my shoulder, sending me down to my feet. I heard Phil give a scream of pain, then another stone came down and smashed into my forehead. I remember seeing everything spinning around me as the world went black.
***
I awoke to find my headlamp still shining straight up in the dusty tunnel. Large chunks of the tunnel had slid out of place and crashed to the stone floor. The granite chunks that had fallen looked unnaturally smooth, most of them in the shapes of cylinders or cubes and varying in size from that of an egg to that of a small car.
My head throbbed. It felt as if a tight belt of fire were wrapped around my temples. Groaning, I put my fingers up to my forehead. They came away slick with blood.
Slowly, I started pushing myself up on my feet. I was relieved that nothing seemed broken. I had a deep gash running from the center of my scalp down to my left temple and some shallower cuts on my shoulders and back, but I knew none of that was life-threatening.
“Sonia?” I whispered, my voice coming out weak and strained. I reached into my pack and found a bottle of water. I chugged it quickly in one long swallow.
“Phil?” I cried again, this time stronger. I heard a soft weeping nearby. Staggering, I followed the sound.
Sonia was bloody and covered in cuts and scrapes, sitting next to Phil’s prone form. I saw Phil’s right arm pinned under a massive slab of granite. His arm disappeared from the elbow down in a spreading puddle of thick, dark blood.
“Oh God, Max, I think he’s hurt really bad,” she wept. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly in his head, his face pale and bloodless. I looked down the way we had come, seeing the entire tunnel blocked by large slabs of stone, many with strange, black orbs peeking out like the lenses of cameras.
***
I don’t know how much time passed. My phone died after a day, and then we were counting the endless darkness in breaths and tears.
Phil swam in and out of consciousness as his arm putrefied and blackened around the crush site. After a couple days, Sonia and I agreed that something had to be done. We told Phil we would need to amputate his arm. He was half-delirious, but he came back long enough to understand us and nod weakly.
We made a fire with Phil’s pack, trying to find fuel to throw in it to get it roaring. As it grew, I saw one of the black orbs near the flames abruptly ignite, as if it had been covered in gasoline. Blue, almost colorless flames rose from its surface. We started throwing the small black orbs on the fire until it rose high in the air. I sanitized the buck knife with the flames and pulled a rope tourniquet tight around Phil’s arm. He was conscious but seemingly insane, talking to himself more than anyone else.
“How are we going to get the car started without a key?” he gurgled to someone only he could see. “We need to look around. It has to be here somewhere.”
“Phil, can you hear me, bud? We need to fix your arm. We need to get you out of this mess. OK?” I said as comfortingly as I could. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly, but they didn’t meet my own. I sighed and looked over at Sonia.
“Let’s do it,” I said, giving a grim nod.
I pulled the buck knife out, slicing quickly down through the flesh next to the tourniquet. His veins throbbed like fat worms as the blackened, necrotic skin split easily under the blade, releasing a rancid-smelling gas that hissed out of the wound.
I couldn’t believe how hard it was to slice all the way through the arm. It felt like I was stuck in that hellish task forever. Phil’s eyes rolled in his head as his skin turned the color of clotted milk.
“God, Jesus, make it stop,” Phil whispered over and over, exhaling ragged, pain-filled breaths. The blood spurted from the blackened, dying tissue all over the dust-covered cavern floor, covering my hands in its warm, slick embrace.
After what was probably only three or four minutes, but felt like hours, I had sliced all the way down to the bone. The infected tissue of his arm spurted great gouts of orange pus mixed with rivulets of blood. The hard part was over.
Standing up, I took my steel-toe sneaker and stomped down on his arm as hard as I could. Phil cried out in a powerful voice, as if all the agony and suffering in the world was contained in that one shriek. The bone snapped under my weight with a sound like a tree branch cracking. A moment later, Phil rolled away from the rock that had pinned me in place for so long. Something alien and spongy was shoved into my face, a mass of destroyed red tissue pulsating in time with a runaway heartbeat. At first, shell-shocked and revolted, my mind couldn’t comprehend that I was looking at the stump of Phil’s mutilated arm. I hardened my heart and forced the giddiness and madness to the back of my mind. The time had come to cauterize the wound.
“Sonia, give it to me,” I said with a tremor in my voice. I reached out a hand towards her, a hand stained with Phil’s blood. It looked as if I were wearing a wet, crimson glove. Sonia only stared blankly at me for a long moment, however. A surge of anger ran up my chest.
“Sonia, toughen the fuck up! He’s going to die if you just sit there!” I swore at her, hearing my deep, angry voice bounce around the caverns. Sonia pulled back, as if she were struck. Inwardly, I cursed having a woman as my only able-bodied companion in this situation. She was a competent enough caver, but what would happen if violence and blood came over us? What would happen if, or more realistically when, we needed to fight?
Grimly, Sonia leaned forward and yanked the burning black orb out of the roaring fire, handing it to me on the end of a buck knife that had just barely pierced its hard, strange exterior. The handle of the knife felt coarse and splintery under my filthy skin. I put it to the spongy stump of Phil’s arm. The stump twitched violently. Phil tried to pull away as black smoke rose from the burning flesh.
There was a smell like bacon sizzling. The searing meat of Phil’s arm blackened and crisped under the heat of the orb, which had become no more than a cylinder of glowing blue embers by this point. I felt simultaneously sick and giddy. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or vomit. I felt like I was on the verge of some kind of madness, that the stress and insanity of the experience had started to shatter my mind.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he appeared to go into a seizure for a few seconds. With a long exhalation of breath, he finally, mercifully, lost consciousness. It’s hard to admit it, even this close to the end, but a small, sick piece of me was jealous of Phil. Most likely, he would be dead soon, maybe within hours, while Sonia and I would slowly starve and dehydrate like animals over a period of weeks. I looked at her lithe body and soft skin, seeing the feminine curves of her hips and chest. She was a beautiful woman. I knew Phil to be a lucky man. At least, before this trip, he was.
I watched her body, wondering if I had what it took to eat her or Phil if I had to. Did I have an iron heart that would allow me to slice into my friends and consume their raw, cold flesh? Perhaps, by that point, it would be hunger and madness driving me forward, and I wouldn’t even hesitate. I shuddered at the very thought.
***
I fell asleep that night, having strange dreams of massive gods with melting faces sitting in judgment in a circle around me. We had very little food or water left. No one knew we were down here. Rescue was not coming.
When I awoke, I found myself alone. Phil had died from his injuries while I slept, the black streaks of septic shock spreading up his arm towards his heart. His eyes stared sightlessly up at the rock ceiling.
“Sonia?” I called out, my heart racing as I sat up. “Where are you?” My headlamp was growing dim. I looked in my pack, realizing I was on the last of my batteries. I saw a silhouette walking out of the darkness, the thin, pale form of Sonia. She was trembling badly.
“I saw them,” she said. “Niralahoth and its priests. The priests aren’t human. They look reptilian with sideways mouths and too many eyes.” She shuddered.
“Why would you do that?” I asked. Her eyes grew distant.
“You know we’re not getting out of here alive,” she said. “Not on our own. I wanted to see what it offered. It says that if we take a piece of its nightmare into us, we will gain the power to leave this place, that it simply wants to see the surface and spread its nightmares there.” I shook my head.
“Insanity,” I muttered. “We’d be better off dead.” Sonia nodded.
“My thoughts exactly,” she responded grimly. I didn’t realize what she meant until the next day, when I woke up and found her hanging next to Phil’s body, her tongue swollen and blue as it poked out of her cyanotic lips. And then I was truly alone.
***
Soon after Sonia committed suicide, the last of the batteries for the headlamp died. I had run out of food and had only a small sip of water left. I don’t know how much time passed in the darkness, starving and raving, following the tunnel by running my hands over the walls. I heard many things skittering in the darkness, and a few times, I heard the demonic voice of Niralahoth as it split and distorted.
“You are on death’s door,” it hissed. “Will you not drink from the fountain of life?” I couldn’t tell where the voice came from in the maddening blackness. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I had lost nearly all of my sanity in that pit of shadows by this point. I tried laughing constantly to keep my spirits up, and when that failed, I simply cried.
“I’ll do it,” I wailed. “I’ll do it. Just let me see the sky again. Get me out of here, Niralahoth.” Everything went deathly silent all around me, then a laugh rang out like the grinding of glass.
In front of me, I saw a tornado of fire descending from the ceiling, surrounding the massive, spidery form of Niralahoth. It rose its skeletal arms upwards, as if it were Zeus calling down lightning. In the sudden brightness, I saw the fiery form of snakes slithering and centipedes skittering forwards in that tornado, each massive creature sculpted from flames in the spinning cyclone of energy. Niralahoth reached into the tornado of fire with its sharp points of fingers and plucked something small from it. The fire instantly dissipated. In its hand, I saw a tiny, swirling orb that looked like it contained a firestorm within it.
“The nightmare seed,” Niralahoth gurgled as it skittered forward towards me. I could only stare, open-mouthed and starving. I hadn’t slept for days, it felt like, and everything seemed slow and unreal.
In a blur, its skeletal arm shot out and forced the orb into my mouth. Despite the fire raging within it, it felt freezing cold. As it touched my tongue, it gave off a sensation like frostbite all throughout my mouth. I screamed and tried spitting it out, but it seemed to have a mind of its own. It started liquifying, dripping down my throat.
I felt something cancerous and sick spreading throughout my body, radiating out from my heart and stomach to every inch of it. I tried to scream, but it caught behind my teeth. I fell to my knees, clawing at my face as that insane, alien laugh continued resounding all down the tunnel. I fell unconscious and woke up under a beautiful sky in the fields of Graysole Farms.
***
Soon after, I realized that my life would never be the same. Everywhere I went, I could hear the wailing voice of Niralahoth. Behind the trees, I always saw skittering shadows, creatures with long, spidery legs that stalked me every day and night. I slept with every light in the house turned on, yet when I woke up, they would all be shut off, and I would find myself in darkness, next to something in the bed with far too many legs and a face that dripped like burning wax.
I sold everything I owned and tried to move far away, to give as much distance between myself and those cursed caverns as I could, but the nightmares followed me like a shadow. I realize what a fool I was in those ephemeral moments of madness. Sonia was much wiser than myself; I should have killed myself or died rather than allowing that thing inside of me.
Even now, I can feel it creeping through my heart, spreading through my blood. I feel it trying to crawl its way out of my throat, the thin, black legs peeking out at the back of my esophagus.
I only hope that, when I finally jump and feel my bones shatter against the concrete far below, I will kill whatever is inside of me. For I fear the consequences for the world if it were to escape.

What's up all! 4thWall here. Hope you guys have had a fantastic weekend.
If this is your first episode of "The Black", Welcome!! I hope you will join us from the beginning!
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Tense silence greeted Corellus Grarzia. Moments ago, he had stepped off the shuttle sent for him, and now he was standing in the entryway to the main conference room aboard USN Wisconsin. This meeting greatly reminded him of his first meeting after taking captainship of Olyvia. This time however, there were many more players. All but two of the Privateers were present, the latter being simply too deep into a mission, and too far away to make it in time. Both of the missing ships had completed their objectives, and were in transit, but waiting for them was simply not an option. Admiral Grarzia had arrived with Wisconsin and the rest of the Privateers inside of a week from Cory’s transmission, and Admiral stevens had arrived a week after that. Admiral fulmori had retained the USN Texas as his Flag, having grown fond of Captain Gleeson. Unity High Admiral Kawmarin was still currently flagged aboard USN Galveston and was currently using her superior speed to respond to race across unity space in an attempt to rally Unity forces.

Admiral Clint Stevens had arrived with a five-ship battle group. He was flagged aboard USN Tharsis and was escorted by USN Furlong, USN Iowa, a recently retrofitted and upgraded DDS Protectorate, and a newly commissioned Delmar Frigate. The DDS Stormhold was a hybrid vessel. She had been in the early stages of construction when Humanity and Delmar met for the first time, and she had been modified during construction to make use of the recent innovations born of the their budding alliance. She had but half the displacement of an Iowa Class, but she sported two thirds of the weight of fire by destructive potential. Stormhold had struck many human sailors as what a battleship class would have looked like if the Martians had decided to build the class during Humanity’s civil war. Stormhold carried but a pair of super firing Kinetic batteries in dorsal and ventral positions with a single pair of super firing batteries at her midships. Each turret in the battery only boasted a pair of barrels, and they fired the same 1005 projectile. Stormhold was armed to please however, and she carried twice the same number of PAC batteries as USN Tharsis, and she boasted a full-length central weapon that was very uniquely Delmar. The combined minds of the Brothers grem and their research counterparts in Sol had spent years researching and iterating on the Martian Particle Acceleration Cannon, and they had found something.

DDS Stormhold sported a single long low profile blister stretching the length of her ventral hull, set just to the left of centerline to make room for her kinetic batteries. No less than 6 PAC systems were arrayed in parallel, all feeding one focusing array of titanic size. Stormhold could fire up to all 6 at the array, varying the amount of destruction she wished to adjudicate upon her enemy. Bart had dubbed tis weapon the C-PAC, or “Compound Particle Acceleration Cannon”. The discovery however was not that combining Pac beams was doable. Mars had tried and failed to accomplish this. The discovery was how to make it efficient enough to create a viable weapon. This accomplished, something became abundantly clear from the initial testing…. A C-PAC did not scale linearly, but exponentially. A C-PAC could produce the same destructive energy as an Eros, but only within two hundred fifty thousand Kilometers. The rate of fire was still low, and firing all 6 feeder PACs at once was a cautious calculation, as the heat generated was still a problem, but early tests in a long dead system had seen the accidental cracking of the target planet’s crust. The reaction that followed destabilized the planet entirely and said star system was now one interstellar body lighter.

Stevens brought more than just a battle group, having appropriated four troop transports. Each transport carried a detachment of Marines, with the two MACE squads spread between them for heavy support. It was a small number, but they were to be on hand to evacuate any survivors they could. “Alright people, gather round. All of you have seen the brief by now, and I know all of you are ready for this to happen. Let’s not go in halfcocked” Several heads bobbed in acknowledgement and Stevens turned to spear Cory with a gaze, “For those who might not have met yet, this is Corellus Grarzia, Captain of the Privateer that uncovered this little honeypot of horrors. He’s been the closest to this thing the longest.” Stevens waves to Cory, “Captain?”

Cory stepped up and took a long breath, “The situation’s only gotten worse since my first transmission. The prison freighters and the frigates in orbit are just the beginning of the problem. We’ve since discovered camps on the surface of the planet, I’ve marked them in your updated files” Cory flicked his wrist over his data pad, propagating the information to everyone else’s pad and the table in the center of the room, “This is not just a torture camp, it is an indoctrination and training facility. The kissing of the hand is a surrender trigger of sorts. Kiss the hand, and the child is taken from hell, given food, and given a task. Usually something simple and innocuous, but it is rewarded. If a child accepts without instruction, and without question; they are sent to the surface where they are put into an intense indoctrination program.” Cory took a pause, watching the faces of the men and women in the room. Hard eyes and grim expressions waited for him to continue. “The children are eventually taken on hunts…. Hunts of other failed children and adults of their own species… and hunts of the locals… they are creating insurgents. We may and will encounter opposition made of child soldiers and operatives on the surface. We’ve also discovered a fast response system. Attacking one freighter at a time will trigger the destruction of the other freighters, and it appears that the Frigates in the system are in direct communication with someone outside the system every 20 minutes. That is all we know, at this time.”

Cory nodded to the admirals before stepping back from the table. Mac gave Cory a nod before taking a deep breath, “Thank you Captain. Alright people, no idea goes unspoken. No question goes unasked, we only have one shot at this. Let’s get to work.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Warren’s eyes slowly fluttered open, aroused from his slumber by soft lips working their way up from the nape of his neck, “Hmm, Good morning.” He whispered as Jezz pulled herself atop him with a smile of her own. She kissed her way up his chin to his ear before responding, “Morning.” She coo’d back at him, her sultry tone lighting his senses on fire. Warren pulled her the rest of the way to his lips, kissing her gently just as his communicator chirped, “UUgghhhh!!” he groaned, breaking their kiss to open the channel, “L.T. Patterson here.” He stated, trying to keep his voice professional as Jezzaria’s lips began to wander again.
*Lieutenant, We’ve received word. The cargo transports finished loading earlier than anticipated. We will be departing in twenty minutes. Captain Yasushi has asked for your presence on the bridge.*

“Understood, I’ll be there… uh…. Momentarily.” Warren responded closing the channel, looking down at a smugly amused Jezzaria, “Jezz! Now how am I supposed to show up on the bridge with that…”

“Hmm” She mused coyly. “Probably shouldn’t, I better take care of that.” Warren never had a chance to respond.

Twenty minutes later, an only slightly breathless Warren arrived on the bridge, receiving a raised eyebrow from Excelsior’s Captain. “Cutting it rather close, Lieutenant?” Yasushi asked as he scanned the last of the information before departure.

Warren kept his face carefully neutral, “Unavoidable, Sir.” He said formally. “You asked to see me?”

“Yes, Is the Elerian delegation settled in?” Yasushi asked first. “We’ve done what we can to give them ample spaces on the ship attuned to their gravity, and signage to prevent accidents, but I’ve heard rumblings.”

“It not… the gravity sir… May we?” Warren responded carefully, nodding to the captain’s ready room. The two of them stepped into the more private setting, and Warren sat heavily into the chair opposite the desk.

Yasushi regarded the young officer with a studious gaze, “Talk to me son. I need to know if something is brewing during this voyage.”

Warren sighed inwardly. The delegation made up about a quarter of the surviving Elerian race, the Oldest of the Children saved from their planet. They had finished catching up in their education and updating on changes wrought while they were asleep. These Oldest had requested, and obviously granted, permission to travel to their home planet to participate in its recolonization. There was only one real problem with the situation. “Jezz wishes to continue to Delmar, but she is the defacto leader of her species. It is, chafing in some area’s.” Warren finally answered.

“Ah, I see.” Yasushi leaned back into his chair. “Has she told them that She is not staying?”

Warren shook his head, “No sir. She knows she has to stay. It’s just…. It’s just obvious that she hates the reality of the situation, that I must continue to Delmar. It does not help that Many of her people see our relationship as hurtful. They see us as narrowing the genetic pool from which they can recover.”

Yasushi’s eyes softened slightly in understanding, “Atticus’ research?”

“Almost complete sir, it’s all but certain that the Corth placed Elerian DNA in the Human genome. He believes that We could be the key to the genetic diversity needed to jumpstart their species, but… They don’t know that.” Warren sighed, “It’s all still heavily classified pending the conclusion. Her people don’t know what she has put herself through to ensure accurate data. They just see me as stealing their future, and her as a love struck girl playing at leadership.”

Yasushi nodded, bringing up the progress synopsis on his consol, “It appears that Atticus requires only one further ‘experiment’ before his conclusions can be reached. Do you know what that is?”

Warren shook his head, “Sorry, Sir. I don’t. We are to meet him in his onboard lab after lunch. He’s fastidious about records, I’m sure you will know by the time we leave his office.”

“Hmm,” Yasushi mused, taking a moment to review the update before closing it, “I know this is hard for you. You two have been thrust into quite a bit above your stage in life. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Dismissed, Lieutenant.”

Warren saluted crisply, following Yasushi out to the bridge just in time to watch the small convoy leap into slip space. His feet slowly guided him back to the quarters he shared with Jezz, feeling the shift in gravity as he passed into the Eleri safe parts of the ship. It would be a two month sail to the Elerian homeworld, and Warren was not looking forward to its conclusion. His thoughts were interrupted by raised voices, one of which he was intimately familiar with, coming from around the corner, and Warren accelerated his gate.

“You know we barely have the numbers to survive! Instead of doing your duty, you’re bedding that heavy worlder!” It was the oldest Elerian male, Bregan, flanked by two other Elerians. They had ambushed Jezz against the door to the quarters Warren and her shared.
“Back up Breg, I don’t care that your father was pappa’s top general. This is not the play you want to make right now. I am Warren’s, and that is not changing.” Jezz’s voice was stern, and she noticed Warren arrive around the corner. The smallest shake of her head kept him from barging in. Elerian female leaders were a prickly thing, and because He was not Eleri, she needed to do this on her own. They had talked about it, expecting something like this once the first complaints had been whispered. Jezz was still kicking herself for not spending more time with her people, but she had also been instrumental in the Gate project that promised to bind the galaxy more tightly than ever before.

Breg openly scoffed at Jezz, “A woman, ordering me around? Maybe Your precious Human will have an accident.” He sneered, blatantly reaching for Jezz’s wingtips, “Then maybe You’s search for a proper m… UGH!” Warren winced as he heard the tale tale cracking of bone. Jez had slapped away Bren’s outstretched hand before driving her fist into his side. She had underestimated her power, having lived for over a year in various gravities that exceed that of her homeworld, and Bren doubled over with eyes wide as he fell to a knee. He clutched his side, glaring at Jezzaria, “Bitch! I’ll have you brought up on charges! Let’s see your precious human get you out of an assault charges, with witnesses.” Bren sputtered, and his two friends nodded angrily.

“Go ahead, but I do not think you will be successful.” Jezz pointed up to the corner of the corridor opposite Warren, “All hallways are rigged for video and audio. Every threat you have made was logged in the ships computer the moment you puked it out of your pathetic mouth.” Warren had to stifle the chuckle that threatened to escape his lips at the pure vitriol in Jezz’s ton. “As for witnesses, you can come on over, hun.”

Warren put on severe expression, locking eyes with Bregan even as the young mans eyes bugged out of his head. “My husband has been watching for quite a while and would make an excellent witness.” Jezz’s smug expression nearly broke Warrens facade as he crossed his arms in front of the three.

“Hmm, threatening the murder of a Naval officer.. Attempted assault on a reigning monarch… Getting recorded doing so, not a good look.” Warren rumbled, and Breg spat at his feet.

“Fuck you.” Bren spat, “If you believe that to be true, why did you wait for your woman to fight instead of protecting her, coward.”

Warren openly laughed in the boy’s face, “you assume my woman needed saving from you. She’s soared on Luna and Conquered the gravity on Ceres.” Warren paused as a profoundly contemplative expression washed over the three boy’s faces, “What makes you think you were anything close to a threat to MY mate.” Warren growled the last part, making the miscreants take an involuntary step back, “Now get out of here. And get that rib checked out, I heard it break from over there.”

The three Elerian boys scrambled down the hallway, unable to flee on wing because of the narrow space. Warren waited for them to round the corner, and felt Jezz collapse into him almost instantly after. Warren quickly opened their door and pulled her in with him, “Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh” He soothed rubbing her down patch between the base of her wings. She melted into him, but continued shaking for a moment. “Their gone, it’s ok now.”

Jezz took a long shakey breath, “I… I don’t know what to do…. My people are so scared… and I can’t tell them that we need Humans to recover our numbers. I… I don’t know what to do…”

Warren kept rubbing her back, “I’ll have lunch brought here. Breg doesn’t need to see that he shook you.” And Jezz nodded, and a few minutes later a pair of cold cut sandwiches arrived. The two of them ate, Jezz curled up in Warren’s lap. Violence was not a natural decision for her, and it had been the first time she had struck anyone outside her occasional sparring with Warren. Warren partially blamed himself for her not knowing her own strength. He always allowed her to strike at him as hard as she could, knowing that she was incapable of hurting him with her bare hands, and she had gained enough speed and technique to occasionally get through his admittedly average hand to hand skills. He had still not taught her to shoot Kinetics. He worried that she would be simply too fragile to shatter bones should she get behind one of his pistols, or even his rimfire rifle.

They were just beginning to leave when a knock at the door interrupted their clean up. And Warren opened the door, his face a serious mask as he prepared to deal with more of the… “Atticus?” He asked as the Androgenous Corth stepped into their quarters. “I thought we were meeting you in your lab?”

“You are correct Warren. However, after word of Jezzaria’s little incident spread across the ship, I thought it best to have this conversation somewhere more comfortable.” Atticus stated in his usual analytical tone, waving to the seating in the pair’s living quarters. Warren raised an eyebrow and the uncharacteristic catering to circumstances from Atticus and settled onto one side of the queen bed in the corner. Their compartment was spacious considering Excelsiors size, but still lacked any major furnishing outside of the bed, a place for clothes and a chair for the desk which held the computer console. Jezz sat down next to him, and Atticus pulled the desk chair to face them.
“What’s this about Att.” Warren asked, picking up on the small tells that told him that Atticus was stalling.

Atticus flashed a smile to Warren before responding, “I’ve completed my research, at least, as much of it I can without more direct observation, and I am unwilling to ask that with so few Elerians left.” He began, holding up a hand to Jezz who was already opening her mouth to protest, “I have already found some remarkable discoveries regarding you. As you are probably aware, being able to adapt to Luna, and even Ceres should not be possible for your species” he continued looking a Jezz as he spoke, “None of your people, who tried anything like that before have succeeded.”

“But Atticus,” Jezz asked in confusion, “I’m fine… I’m better than fine. Warren and I spent a weekend on Luna to say goodbye to his parents. I don’t have to be tossed to fly there anymore.” Atticus raised an eyebrow and Warren nodded in confirmation.

Atticus seemed to freeze for just a split second, as if adding the information to something before his eyes focused on the two of them again, “I’m impressed, but not entirely surprised, Jezz. You’re ability to adapt has an explanation, I simply needed to prove my original findings from Ceres.” Atticus leaned forward slightly, “My dear, you are an anomaly because of your relationship with Warren. I’ve been told that I am too direct, so I will attempt to be… less so” Atticus gave Warren a semi sharp look as he snorted, but continued, “Both of you already know this first part. My people, many many eons ago, used the fledgling Human species as a library of genetic markers meant to be able to save those species and cultures wiped out by the Cataclysm. What I have learned is that Humanity took many of those genetic markers and evolved with them as their own. Almost nothing of what we added to Humanity’s genetic code is how we left it, but some of our library is still capable of interacting with the origin species. That is what has happened with you Jezz.”

Jezz looked shocked for a moment, but then returned to her confused expression, “But, we haven’t done any of those experiments yet. You told me they were too dangerous.” Warren rubbed her shoulders but said nothing, simply waiting for Atticus to explain himself.

Atticus nodded, “I did, and they are; but I failed to account for something that was already happening naturally. To put it… delicately… Your body has been naturally been exposed those same Genetic markers, including the Elerian ones, in significant quantities since you and Warren chose to become life mates. Because those genetic markers include a hormonal component to them, and because of the extra strain your body had been put through on luna and ceres; your body has reacted to them, using them as a template for survival. Your bone mass has tripled since you travelled to Ceres, and your Muscle mass and composition has dramatically changed as well.”

“But how… Oh..” Warren’s face reddened as his mind finally put the pieces together, and Jezz’s cheeks flushed a bright blue upon her own realization. “But that would mean…”

Atticus shook his head, “No, luckily being able to monitor Jezzaria’s health has led me to a much safer way to help jumpstart the Elerian species, but there is a catch… I believe that this level of artificial genetic hybridization can only be done during the embryonic stages of Elerian life to be 100 percent safe, but I wont know until I study a….. natural hybrid.” Jezz’s breath caught in her chest as her eyes widened but Atticus raised his hands quickly, “I cannot ask this… but I know you would be angry with me if I hid this fact from you. I know the two of you desire children, and I will not lie. It is still a great risk. I’ve learned that the two of you prefer to make your own decisions, so I want you to do so with the most recent information. I’ll leave everything here for you to review.” Leaving a data stick on the desk, Atticus stood. He began stepping toward the door as the stunned couple stayed where they were, “I’ll give you some space. I am sorry for the heaviness of my findings.” Atticus opened the door and stepped out.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you made it this far, Thank You! I hope you enjoyed the episode. If this if your first time seeing this series, I hope you will join us from the beginning. I do have a patreon that has extra content that is not main story arc, but still cannon shorts, as well as exclusive content from some of my other series. If you believe I've earned it, feel free to give it a look; but know that just coming to hang is already enough.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
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So if I remember correctly, TRs are specifically recommended long hair. However, I've noticed pure Rs seem to shine in shorter cuts. Not necessarily pixie length (though Drew Barrymore rocked that in the 90s), but like a soft, rounded bob. Think Marilyn in The Misfits.
I made a post in the Romantics sub many moons ago about bangs for Rs vs TRs and noticed from the comments that Rs seemed to love bangs and even considered them a signature hairstyle, while the TRs weren't huge fans of them and found them overwhelming.
Both IDs are recommended face-framing hairstyles, but do they just go about it differently?

I usually opt for a Bob or something like that, but I want some more fun experimental hairstyles! I miss that about when I first loc’d up. Any suggestions?

So, I purchased Bob's Tall Tales on Xbox Series X and started up a new single-player game on the Island. Despite purchasing the content, when I try to buy the Bob's Tall Tales engrams or craft any of the items the game won't let me. Saying, "You must own Bob's Tall Tales in order to make this item." So as far as ASA is concerned, I don't own the content I purchased. Meanwhile, if I check the Microsoft store, it says I purchased it.
I have a few mods running in this game, but nothing crazy that completely overhauls how the game works. Currently, I have: all the free Additions Ascended creatures, Cyrus's Magna Geckos, a few of Klinger's building tile sets, Marnii's Hairstyles, Manolo's Death Recovery, and Ghazawl's Upgrade Station. Nothing that I think would cause a conflict with Bob's Tall Tales unless I am wrong.
I'm just curious if anyone else is having this issue and possibly knows how to fix it. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Coach Skinner: The (Unwitting) Namesake of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Leonard Skinner, a Florida gym teacher and basketball coach, may not have known it, but he played a pivotal role in rock music history. Skinner's strict enforcement of a school dress code against long hair in the 1960s directly inspired the now-iconic name of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Several members of the band, including Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns, attended Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, where Skinner was a teacher. Facing disciplinary action for their nonconformist hairstyles, they decided to immortalize Skinner's name in their band, albeit with a playful misspelling to mock his authority.
While Skinner himself might not have intended to be a part of rock and roll lore, his name became synonymous with the band's rebellious spirit and Southern roots. Lynyrd Skynyrd, despite the initial friction, later acknowledged Skinner's influence and maintained a respectful relationship with him.

TLDR: I have no idea how to make my hair feel like my hair again now that I've gone blonde. It feels almost sticky on non wash days. Any ideas?

I have enjoyed coloring my hair for many years, but I've always been really lazy about it. I always go darker so when my hair starts to grow, it looks more natural and I don't have to worry so much about upkeep. I've changed my hairstyle a lot over the years, too, but usually end up with the same, chin to shoulder length bob with bangs of some kind.
I never really had any hair care education. I have very straight, fine, medium thickness, medium brown hair. For a long time, my routine was wash, brush, go. I am a single parent of a special needs child with a full time job. I wake up early, shower, make sure my kid is on the bus, go to work, come home, and spend time with my kid until bedtime when I crash. I have no time alone. It also didn't help that I was struggling with mental illness (still am but it's much more controlled) so I really didn't care.
A few years ago, I shaved my head. All the hair on my head now has never been touched by anything stronger than my shampoo. I never blow dried and I never used hairspray. I've also never had any body to my hair.
Fast forward to a couple months ago. I decided I wanted to color my hair again. I looked over pictures, spent time trying to decide what I want. I finally landed on going lighter since I've never done it before, and it would give me a good base to add more "fun" colors (pink tint, orange, something like that). I was fully aware going into it that my routine was going to change. I made the appointment, though I made the wrong kind of appointment, so there wasn't enough time to do the whole thing. She essentially did a partial highlight all over the top layers of my hair. I absolutely love it. I spent most of the appointment asking for some basic tips to help keep my hair as long as possible until my next appointment.
What I was not prepared for was how different my hair was going to feel. I figured it would be drier, but I wasn't entirely sure what that actually meant.
My hair care routine is different. I don't wash as often. I use purple shampoo once a week. I use a hair mask once a week. I wash twice a week. I blow dry most of the way, brush, then finish. In the morning, I brush and use a little texture spray. On non wash days, I use dry shampoo at night. I haven't really gotten much into styling yet, I'm just trying to learn how to keep it looking healthy and keep the color.
The major problem I'm running into is that my hair feels... sticky, I guess, for lack of a better word. On non wash days, it doesn't brush out very well, I try to be gentle and patient about it. I can't run my fingers through my hair like I always used to do, it's a stress tick and it's weird not being able to do it. It's got a lot more body now, which I love, and I love the color. I just wish it FELT better.
Long story long, I am looking for tips to get my hair to feel better on non wash days. Or at least knowing if this is just my life now haha. I have zero frame of reference for even where to begin.
Attached are some photos. The orange blazer is right before I got it colored. The black and white striped shirt is right after washing. The white and pink shirt is day two hair. The black and gray is day four hair. I rarely go out on day four so I don't usually do anything to it, today was my first time actually doing "day four hair."
I'm sorry for the super long post. One of my major flaws is being long winded haha!

i don't cope well in the warm weather so i need my hair tied up at all times
my hair is gradually thinning on top from PCOS so i can't do high or even mid ponytails or anything that pulls my hair taut because it tugs the sparse patch and hurts, and makes it more visible, and will probably pull out more hair because it can't hold the weight
my side bangs don't stay heat styled for long because as soon as i sweat they just curl back up and stick out weirdly, they look ridiculous. they dont even look like a bad hairstyle, they look like they couldn't be classed as a hairstyle because what they're doing is just not a thing
i mostly end up twisting my bangs loosely and pinning them to the side of my head and tying the rest in a low bun or claw clip
it makes me look like an egg
any suggestions for styles that'd be a bit more flattering? make me look a bit less old and frumpy? less of a pinhead
please don't suggest cutting it; cutting it short would make me more of an egg and cutting it into a bob would make me just as sweaty but it'd be harder to tie up
i'm 30 and have mid length mid brown hair
thanks!

Whoevers doing the killings, they've messed with my city, my subway system, and maybe, just maybe, my brother.

Schaefer was an immigrant who was granted an American citizenship in 1975, joined the NYPD in 1978, and made Detective in 1986. During a heatwave Schafer and his partner investigated a serial killer who targeted dangerous gang members he later figured out was the alien hunter. Ever since than he travelled the world from South America to Russia to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his brother Alan Dutch Schafer and fight Predators wherever he finds them. He’s unflappable with an odd sense of humor… and an extraterrestrial big game hunters worst nightmare.
Dark Horse Predator RT

Strength

Striking

• Kicks a locked door in half ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 1}
  
• Breaks a landline phone in half ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Put down a Colombian gangster with one punch ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Kicks a door off its hinges ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Knocks a Colombian gangster down with a kick and sends him flying with a punch ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Knocked out an old general with one hit ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Put down a soldier and knocked the helmet off his head in one hit ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Knocks a Predator’s Bio-Mask with a punch ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• Splinters a door with a shoulder bash ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• Knocks out a man long enough to go through an airport and on a plane ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 2}
  
• Punches off the back door of a school bus ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Sent a man flying with a punch ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Kicks a metal door open ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Floors a dazed Predator with a kick to the gut ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Trades blows with The Predator although he’s on the back foot ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  

Striking with Weapons

• Hits the Predator with a wooden board so hard it breaks and his Bio-Mask is knocked off ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 1}
  
• Breaks a salt shaker against a Predator’s head ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Smacks a Predator with a branch causing him to stumble off a cliff ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Hit a Predator with a shotgun so hard it bent ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• Hit someone with a frying pan so hard it bent inward ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• Floored a trained soldier twice with a piece of plywood breaking it on the second swing ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 2}
  
• Floored The Predator with his helmet ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• Hits The Predator with a metal ladder so hard it bends ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Stabs a Predator in the chest with their own combi stick ^{Predator: The Last Hunt Vol 1 2}
  

Pushing/Pulling

• Pulled a horse down to the ground ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Pushed a man against the wall when he had his wrists tied behind his back in a chair ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Tackled a man into a metal table so hard it bent ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• Pulled off the top of a weapons crate splitting it in half ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  

Lifting/Throwing

• Lifts a man by the collar and slams him against a bookshelf so hard it breaks ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Lifts a Colombian gangster by his jacket with one arm and tosses him several feet ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Three a man out a window ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• Lifted a counter and used it to shove a woman to the floor ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• Throws a grown man so hard he knocked a door off its hinges ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• Lifts a man by their collar ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• Throws a man out a window ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 2}
  
• Throws another man out another window ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  

Other

• [Limits] A Predator easily out grapples him ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}

Speed

• Ducks under a shotgun blast ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 1}
  
• After seeing someone get shot he dived out the way of oncoming bullet fire ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• When he and a general were in a helicopter and Schafer had a gun pointed hat him he grabbed it before the general could shoot him ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Spun around and punched a criminal with a shotgun to his head before he could shoot ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• Dived under a Predator’s plasma blast ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• Rolled away from machine gun fire ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• When a trained soldier was about to hit him when his back was turned he spun around and smacked him faster than he could react ^{Predator: Cold War Vol 1 2}
  
• Bobs his head out the way when someone tries to surprise him by turning a corner to shoot him in the face ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• Shoots a man before they could grab their gun ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• Avoids arrows and boiling water when The Predator destroys a cauldron of it with its plasma caster ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  
• Jumped to avoid the Plasma Caster blasts from an injured Predator ^{Predator: The Last Hunt Vol 1 2}
  

Durability

Blunt

• Recovers after taking a beating from a Predator ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 1} this broke his nose ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Survives being kicked out of a fifth story by a Predator by breaking his fall with some nearby clotheslines and some garbage this left him hospitalized however ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Gets thrown into a tree and has his head slammed against it by a Predator ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• [Limits] A Colombian gangster knocks him out with the butt of his gun ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Quickly recovers after a Colombian gangster hits him with the butt of his gun ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Takes a surprise punch from a Predator ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• A woman smacked him in the face with a pistol ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• Gets backhanded by The Predator ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• Survives being in a school bus that was tipped over by an explosion ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Gets knocked around by The Predator being sent flying by his blows ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• The Predator sends him flying with a a backhand ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  
• After The Predator knocks him through the wall of a straw and wood hut he trades blows with them although he’s on the back foot ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  

Piercing

• Has wire twisted around his wrist until it began to cut him ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Survives The Predator’s shrinking net long enough to be freed ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• Gets shot in the leg ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• Survived being stabbed in the side by The Predator’s wrist blades ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  
• Gets shot in the shoulder with a poison arrow and is forced to bleed out the poison with a knife although this makes him pass out ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 3}
  

Other

• According to his partner “he has liability insurance in case cars run into him” this is obviously hyperbole but it’s so cool I had to bring it up ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• The Predator’s plasma caster grazed head ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  

Intelligence/Skill

• Escaped a hospital despite being extremely injured ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Snuck around the armed Colombian drug lords looking for him and knocked one out with a surprise attack ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• When he had his wrists tied behind his back with wire he used it to cut into a man’s stomach ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 3}
  
• Figures out that water shorts out The Predator’s cloaking technology so he shoot through a fire hydrant causing it to spray water all over them making the them visible ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• He’s fluent in English, French and Russian ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 1}
  
• He deduces that The Predators don’t want to stay in Russia as they are more used to warmer weather and are only stopping in Russia as some sort of detour or a wrong exit ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 3}
  
• During a Brawl with The Predator a tracker is knocked off of Schafer’s leg which if done so would call a jet to come and kill him during the fight he slipped the tracker into the Predator without him noticing making them think they were their target instead of Schafer ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  
• Immediately found some suspicious after Theta found a distress signal coming off of the crashed Predator ship after six years of hunting Predatorsand their planets and finding nothing ^{Predator: The Last Hunt Vol 1 2}
  

GeaEquipment

Guns

• A pistol ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 1}
  
• A fully automatic shotgun that shoots six rounds per second which is powerful enough to blast through some of The Predator’s armor ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• A shotgun ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• A machine gun powerful enough to shoot through a fire hydrant ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 4}
  
• A modified M-16 with a barrel and firing mechanism made out of special alloyed steel designed for cold weather fighting ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 2}
  
  • The Russian snow is too cold for it however causing it to malfunction ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 3}
• An AK-47 ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• A bazooka he stole from a weapons crate ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  
• Two machine guns he also got from the crate ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 4}
  

Other

• A salt shaker he puts on his wounds ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• A knife he uses to stab The Predator in the side ^{Predator: Concrete Jungle Vol 1 2}
  
• Teflon coated depleted uranium shell bullets that according to Schafer could punch through plate steel like it was cheese ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  
• Remote detonated C4 which was powerful enough to destroy The Predator’s starship ^{Predator Cold War Vol 1 4}
  

Other

• Doesn’t flinch as bullets fly past his face ^{Predator: Dark River Vol 1 1}
  
• He was capture by the Yautja and taken to Mabou The Predator’s hunting planet waking up in 2068 ^{Predator: The Last Hunt Vol 1 2}
  

I am currently growing my hair out, and I anticipate it will be roughly shoulder length in time for my wedding. I usually have it cut in a short, trendy hairstyle, but I have not cut it lately because I want to maximize options since I have not decided yet.
I am concerned that if I cut it into a trendy style it will look dated in the future. I know nothing is really timeless and most things eventually look dated, but I don't want to look back at something so specific to a particular stylistic era that it makes me go "what on earth was I thinking?" in the future.
However, if I let it grow, I don't know if, at roughly shoulder length, it will really be long enough for most wedding-y styles. Another option would be to cut it short again, but into a more classic pixie cut or bob that is less 2024 specific.
This is my dress: https://catherinedeane.com/products/lita-gown-1
This is my a picture that is similar normal hair (this is a model, not me!): https://cdn-blog.prose.com/1/2022/01/Screen-Shot-2022-01-19-at-4.33.09-PM.png